It is presently preferred practice in the motor industry to use such pressure fluid control devices instead of conventional control devices using levers and cables, because of the numerous advantages to be obtained thereby: the force exerted by the user on the control means placed on the vehicle dashboard is low and constant, the source of fluid under pressure is available from the vehicle motor system, and in the event of said source of fluid being interrupted, the moving member is automatically returned to a predetermined safety position by return means associated with the piston of the actuator for moving said moving member.
Fluid distributors already exist which are specially adapted to this use, and they comprise two elements capable of moving relative to each other in rotation or in translation, with said elements determining a plurality of fluid chambers therebetween which are separated from one another in sealed manner and which are suitable for connecting the actuator to the source of fluid under pressure, or to the exhaust, or to isolate the actuator, depending on the relative positions of the two moving elements of the distributor. In order to do this, one of the two elements is displaced by the control means provided on the dashboard, and the other element follows the stroke of the moving member in an equal or proportional manner. One of these elements is connected by a flexible hose to the actuator feed orifice, while the other element is connected via a flexible hose to the source of fluid under pressure. The displacements of these elements thus cause corresponding displacements to occur in the flexible hoses, and this may be a nuisance in the engine compartment of a motor vehicle, thereby causing the displacements of the moving elements of the distributor to be limited in order to avoid the flexible hoses tangling or becoming detached.
The aim of the invention is to mitigate these defects.